Sharp County record., 1887-12-22

navid remembered the time when that
GOOD water of Bethlehem was IN the pos
session of his ancestors. His father drank
tbera his mother drank there. He remem-
bered how the water tasted when boy
and came up there from play.
David thought of that well, that boy
hood well, and he wanted a drink OF it, but
he remembered that the Philistines had
cantured it. When those three men tried
to come up to the we'll in behalf of David,
thew saw swords cleaning around about
Il And this is true of this Gospel well.
The Philistines have at times captured it,
When we come to take full, old, fash-
ioned drink of pardon and comfort, do not
their swords of indignation and sarcasm
flash? Why, the skeptics tell US that we
can not come to this fountain!
Thev saw the water is not fit to
drink, any how. "lf you are really
thirsty now, there is the we'll
of philosophy, there is the we'll of art,
there is the we'll of science" They try to
substitute, instead of our boyhood faith,
modern mixture. They say great many
beautiful things about the soul, and they
trv TO feed our immortal hunger on rose
leaves. and mix a mint-julep OF worldly
stimulants, when nothing will satisfy US
but
A drink OF the water Of the we'll Of Bethle-
hem, whichIs by the gate.
They try to starve US on husks, when
the Fathers banquet is ready, and the
best ring is taken from the casket, and
the sweetest harp is struck for the music,
and the swiftest foot is already lifted for
the dance. They patronize Heaven and
abolish hell, and try to measure eternity
with their hour-glass and the throne OF
the great God with their yard.stick! l
abhor it. l tell you the old Gospel we'll is
a captured well. 1 pray God that there
may be somewhere in the elect host three
anointed men with courage enough to go
forth in the strength of the omnipotent
God, with the glittering swords of truth,
to hew the way back again to that old
well.
think the tide is turning, and that the
old Gospel is to take its place again in the
family, and in the university, and in the
legislative hall. Men have tried worldly
PHILOSOPHERS, and have found out that
they do not give any comfort, and that
they drop an Arctic midnight upon the
death.pillow. They fail when there Is
dead chill in the house; aud when the
soul comes to leap into the fathomless
ocean of eternity, they give to the man
not so much as a broken spar to cling to.
Depend upon it that well will come into
our possession again, though it has been
captured If there be not three anointed
men in the Lords host with conservation
to do the work, then the swords will leap
from Jehovah's buckler, and the eternal
three will descend-God the Father, God
the Son, God the Holy Ghost-conquering
for our dying race the way back again to
The water OF the well of Bethlehem, which is
| by the gate.
| II God be for US, who can be against us'
II God spared not his own son, but freely
gave him up for US all, how shall he not with
| him also freely give US all things.
| For am persuaded that neither height nor
! depth, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Shall take from US into final captivity,
the Gospel of my blessed Lord Jesus
Christ.
Again, the Gospel well, like the one
spoken of in my text, is we'll at the
gate. The traveller stops the camel to-
day and gets down and dips out of the val.
+feyvT-re Easv some eeiy boarttfuii, ii0ioi 0io;.'i,
bright water, and that is out of the very
we'll that. David longed for. Do you know
that that we'll was at the gate, so that no.
body could go into Bethlehem without
going right past it? And so it is with
this Gospel well-it is at the gate. 1t is,
in the first place, at the gate of purifica-
| tion. We can not wash away our sins
unless with that water. | take the
responsibility of saying that there is
no man, woman or child in this
house to-day that has escaped sinful de-
| Element. Do you say it is outrageous
and ungallant for me to make such
Charge? Do you say, 81 have never
stolen-I have never blasphemed-I have
never committed unchastity-I have never
| been guilty of murderW | reply, you
| have committed sin worse than bias
| phemy, worse than unchastity, worse
than theft, worse than murder. We have
all committed it. We have by our sin re-
crucfied the Lord and that is decide.
| And if there be any who dare to plead
mot guilty" to the indictment, then the
hosts of Heaven will be impaneled as a
| jury to render unanimous verdict
against us. With what slashing stroke
that one passage cuts US away from all
our pretensions:
There is none that doeth good-no, not one.
"Oh," says some one, ''all we want, all
the race wants, is development" Now
want to tell you that the race develops
without the Gospel into a Sodom, a Five
Points, a Great Salt Lake City. 1t al.
ways develops downward, never upward,
except as the grace of God lays hold of it.
When, then, is to become of our soul with
out Christi Banishment. Disaster. But
bless my Lord Jesus Christ that there is
a well at the gate of publication. For
great sin, great pardon. For eighty years
of transgression, an eternity of forgive.
ness. For crime deep as hell, an atone
ment high as Heaven:
That where sin abounded, so grace may much
more abound; that as sin reigned unto death,
even so may grace reign through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Angel of the Covenant, dip thy wing in
this living fountain to- day, that our souls
may be washed in "the water of the we'll
Of Bethlehem, which is by the gate"
Further, | remark that this we'll Of the
Gospel is at the gate of comfort. Do you
know where David was when he uttered
the words of the text? He was in the cave